BACKGROUND co-morbidity has been shown to be an important consideration in COPD with an estimated prevalence of 84%. In the Netherlands, a weak association between health-related quality of life and lung function has been found, with a closer link to co-morbidity. OBJECTIVE to determine the influence of co-morbidity on quality of life and health service utilisation in older patients with COPD...

This chapter discusses the implications of the results of the studies described in this thesis. First, a summary is given of the results of the previous chapters. Summary As a prelude to the subsequent analyses, Chapter two addressed the co-morbidity between anxiety and depression, by reviewing empirical evidence regarding mechanisms that might underlie the frequent co-morbidity within anxiety ...